MPs ratify EU cross-border healthcare directive

Luxembourg MPs on Tuesday ratified an EU healthcare directive, granting access to European citizens in other member states without having to seek previous permission from their healthcare provider.

19.06.2014

(CS) Luxembourg MPs on Tuesday ratified an EU healthcare directive, granting access to European citizens in other member states without having to seek previous permission from their healthcare provider.

The directive dates back to 2011 and countries were given until October 2013 to transpose it into national law. With Luxembourg's unexpected government crisis and snap elections last year, it has only now been ratified in the Grand Duchy.

The law specifies that patients living in the EU can seek treatment in another member state and be reimbursed to the same amount which they would receive if treated in their country of residence. While this previously required permission from the national healthcare provider, this is now only necessary under special circumstances, for example for treatment that involves a hospital stay or that is very specialised and expensive.

The directive also aims to make easier the recognition of prescriptions from one EU member state in another.

Previous provisions ensuring medical care in case of emergency abroad to EU patients remain valid. For more information about the directive click here or take a look at this brochure.

An information service at the national health service CNS will be set up for patient inquiries.

While the directive was unanimously ratified, opinions were split on a new patient rights law, which was also passed on Tuesday.

The law allows patients to make their medical files available to relatives and also requires doctors to keep patients informed in full detail about their treatment plan should the patient wish this.

The patient rights law combines a variety of laws that were previously in place into one coherent text, but also adds to existing laws, for example by creating a mediation office to settle disputes between doctors and patients out of court.

This new office will be reviewed after a three year period.

A bill to create a compensation fund for victims of malpractice will be introduced within a year, Health Minister Lydia Mutsch added.

The law was passed by 32 MPs of the DP, LSAP and déi Gréng, while the ADR voted against the law and CSV abstained.

Main points of criticism included the mediation office, which some said should be given more power as a conciliation office, as well as fears that doctors will be overwhelmed by the administrative burden of informing patients about the minutiae of their treatment and questions of what this actually encompasses.